Many people find it difficult to make ends meet at the end of the month. They may be desperately waiting for pay day as there is no money left to buy things. At this point it can be tempting to get a loan to help, perhaps an overdraft or a payday loan from the likes of Emu.co.uk so that you can afford the things that you need.

What many people forget when getting a loan is that they are expensive. All loans will cost money, unless they are interest free which is rare. This means that although they may help you at the time of getting them out, it will be even harder to manage when you have to repay them. Therefore it will be even harder to make ends meet.

You may be in a situation though where you feel that you have no choice but to get a loan. However, it is worth making sure that you look at all of the options first. If you are struggling with your bills, for example you may be able to switch to a cheaper provider. You may also be able to talk to the company and ask them if they can lower what you pay for a period of time while you get yourself sorted out financially. Some will happily do that as long as they know that you are determined to get your finances in order.

If you are struggling to buy food, then make sure that you use up everything that you have in your cupboards and freezer. It may be possible for you to get help from a local food bank to get enough to keep you going until you next get paid or get money in. You may also be able to get help from friends and family if you ask them. When you do buy food go for the cheapest options that you can, so oats rather than expensive cereal, buy ingredients to make meals from scratch rather than expensive ready meals or take aways and look out for reduced items but only buy them if they are the cheapest option.

If you are struggling with rent/mortgage or loan repayments then talk to your landlord/lender and see whether you can negotiate to pay less for a while. It may even be worth considering moving to somewhere cheaper to help, although this can be complicated and you may need a lump sum of money to be able to do so.

All of these are just short term solutions and ideally you will need a long term plan to make sure that you are managing every month in the future. To do this you may need to think of ways to bring more money into the household. This could include getting a better paid job, asking for a rise, working more hours, working a second job, doing some freelance work, starting a business or selling things to make money. You may also need to think of ways that you can reduce the spending in the household as well. This could include reducing spending on luxury items, buying cheaper things, switching to cheaper suppliers and things like this. It can be difficult to make changes like this, but unless they happen then you will continue to find it hard to make ends meet.

It could be wise to keep a household budget to note what is coming in and going out so that you can check whether you can afford to spend or whether you need to get some more income in order to pay for things. This is much cheaper and more effective than using a loan to tie you over until pay day. It will take a bit of practice, but there is plenty of information online to teach you how to do it and lots of money saving tips as well. It will take determination and it may feel hard to start with but hopefully you will start to become happier because you are not constantly trying to afford things but you are managing the money that you have well so that you have enough for all of the essentials. This should mean that you will never need to consider getting a loan to help you.

Christmas is a time of year that many people really look forward to, but it is also a time when some people really worry about money. There are so many things to spend money on at Christmas such a gifts, travel, food, decorations, wrapping, postage and cards to name just a few. This means that many people spend a great deal more money at this time of year and finding that money can be tricky.

It is not surprising, therefore, that many people are tempted to take out loans in order to help with the cost of it all. However, taking out a loan will mean that you will end up paying more money for the items than you would if you did not borrow due to the costs of the loan. You will also have to find the money to repay it as well. Therefore it is worth thinking hard before borrowing money like this.

It can be wise to have a think about alternative ways to manage the costs of Christmas without having to borrow money. Some people will save some money each month so that they have enough by the end of the year to afford what they want. This works well if you have good self-discipline and know that you will not spend the money in the meantime. You also need to have enough spare cash each month to be able to put a bit away.

If you think saving will not work for you, then buying gifts throughout the year could be better. Starting in the January sales buying cards and wrap can be a great way to save some money. Then look out for other items in sale time as well. You could even buy some food items early as long as the use by date is good. The only problem with this idea is that you might see a better present after you have bought one and end up buying that as well and therefore spending more money or you may be tempted to eat the food in advance and then not have it for Christmas. So there is a big element of self-discipline with this idea as well.

Some people will have a ‘no gift pact’ with some friends and family which can save a lot of money. It can be a great relief to some people if you suggest that you no longer exchange gifts as they may be struggling financially as well. It can be a hard thing to bring up in conversation but you can find online information about it and perhaps if you share it on social media with all friends and family on there and say you are happy to do this with anyone that contacts you privately, it could help. Another way is to suggest that gifts are only bought for the children in a family rather than all family members.

You may also be able to save money by cutting down a bit. You could try to look for cheaper items to give as gifts, reuse old decorations, do not invite so many people round so you do not need so much food, save gift wrap and gift bags and reuse, re-gift presents that you have been given, buy second hand items or make gifts. There are many ideas online for things that you can do in order to save money and it can be a lot of fun looking at them and trying some different things.

It can be wise to think about ways that you can avoid getting a loan. It may be hard work, mean cutting down or going without but it will help you to be better off in the future. You may feel mean by not spending as much money on people than you are used to but people would not want to think of you having to get a loan just to buy them a gift. People receiving gifts, usually, assume that you are giving because you can afford it and not that you are borrowing money to pay for it.

Getting a loan can be stressful at the best of times. Getting one at Christmas, when you then need to find money to start repaying in January, when you may not have a lot of money can be very difficult. You may be repaying it the whole year and not have money available to save towards next Christmas. It can be a lot better to spend less and then you can save up for next year without having the worry of loan repayments.

Although less than half of credit card holders have outstanding debt on their credit cards, many of those that do would like to pay it off. It can seem very daunting to start paying it off, especially if the debt has built up to a large amount. However, there are ways that it can be paid off and it does not have to be that difficult.

The first thing to notice is that each month you will only have to pay back a minimum amount. This amount tends to be the amount of interest and possibly not even any of the outstanding balance. Therefore it could mean that you will never pay off any of the actual debt. If you can pay back a bit more than that minimum, even if it is just a little more, then you will start to reduce the debt and this should be a big help towards paying off the debt. You should be able to easily change the direct debit so that it is a higher amount.

However, just paying a little bit extra will still not repay the debt very quickly. It can be worth trying to think of ways that you can pay off chunks of it so that you can completely repay it as quickly as possible. The first place to look is your savings account. If you have any savings, then it is unlikely that they will be earning more money in interest than you will be paying on the credit card. If they are earning less interest then it makes sense to use them to pay off the card. You may want them as an emergency fund, but you have your credit card for that or you may be saving up for something. If you are then you need to decide whether the debt or the item you are saving for is more important.

It is also good to take a look at your monthly incomings and outgoings. If there is a difference and you have some spare money, you can use this to pay off some of the debt. You may need to make some changes though so that you have more spare cash to be able to do this. This does take self-discipline and it is wise to make sure that you keep reminding yourself that it will not always have to be like this but think about how good it will be once the debt has been paid off.

There may be some things that you can do to increase the amount of spare money that you have without having to make any major changes. For example, you could swap utility companies, service providers, banks or retailers. Once you have done the initial research and identified who you need to swap to and made the change you will notice no difference but be paying less and therefore have some extra money. You could also see if you can negotiate a pay rise so that you get a higher income without having to work any extra hours.

You may have to make some changes to your lifestyle though, if the above is not possible or if it does not make a significant difference. It may be that you will need to start analysing your spending so that you know exactly what you are buying. Then you can think about whether all of your purchases are necessary and whether you can go without some things. It may be that you buy quite a few luxury items or things that are not necessary and that you can cut down on these sorts of purchases so that you have extra money to repay the credit card. You could also consider earning more money. It may be that you can work more hours, do some freelance work, start a business or do a second job. There are lots of ways to earn extra money and it is just a case of finding one that suits you and fits around your lifestyle.

So it can take quite a commitment to pay off a credit card particularly if you have a lot of outstanding debt. However, if you keep the right frame of mind and remember what you are aiming towards, you should be able to use a combination of techniques to pay if off. Make larger monthly payments, use your savings, spend less and earn more so that you have the funds to be able to pay it back.